(a) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a process for preparing hollow expanded snacks which individually consist of a pair of thin, baked, farinaceous layers with a hollow space therebetween, give light crispy feeling to the eating, and especially have a figure three-dimensionally embodying the shape of an animal, a vehicle, or an object favorite for children.
(b) Description of the Prior Art
Foods, which are formed into the shape of an animal, a vehicle or the like, are suitable as snack foods since they look very joyful and give romantic or amusing visions. Thus, among foods produced by baking a farinaceous raw material such as cereal flour or the like, there are some foods which have shapes resembling animals or the like. Especially animal biscuits or crackers have found a wide-spread popularity among children.
Most of conventional animal-shaped baked foods represent the shapes of animals merely in plain. There are known rather few foods three-dimensionally resembling the shapes of animals or the like. Namely, as baked foods resembling the shapes of animals or the like. three-dimensionally, there have been known swan-shaped cream puff, animal-shaped bread and the like. These baked foods are hand-made artistic work and thus not suited for mass production.
"Onoroke-Mame" and the like have been known as baked foods having a baked farinaceous outer layer and a hollow space therein. For example, one of them is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,063,843 issued Nov. 13, 1962. These baked foods are prepared by coating core materials alternatingly with cereal flour such as glutinous rice flour and sugar syrup in a revolving pan to obtain a dough and, subsequent to drying same, roasting it while revolving same. Thus, they require lots of time and man power. They can be formed only into balls or the like. It is difficult to form them into complex shapes such as animals or the like.
Furthermore, animal biscuits or crackers, "Onoroke-Mame" and the like give heavy feeling to the eating. Consumers are recently moving towards foods having light feeling to the eating and those having heavy feeling to the eating have been losing their popularity.